The present invention relates to traction devices for vehicle tires and, more specifically, to traction devices that are attached to the outside of a tire without the need for chains.
When driving in hazardous conditions, such as on snowy or muddy roads, or during rain or snow storms, control of the vehicle can be improved by adding traction to the vehicle. In hazardous driving situations, such as when avoiding a crash or accident on the road or when encountering an unexpected turn in the road, traction can be improved with electronic control systems (ECS), which generally are automatic systems that help balance the power between the wheels of the vehicle. While some vehicle systems are equipped with ESC technology, many vehicles would have further improved operation with additional traction devices.
For instance, chains have been used as added traction for tires. However, chains usually are bulky and hard to attach over the tires, and are not necessarily the most useful devices when being applied to cars and smaller vehicles, as opposed to trucks and tractors. Likewise, storage of chains can be cumbersome.
Other devices have been developed to replace chains that provide similar styles of traction. Generally, these devices consist of a central hub and a plurality of arms that extend outwardly from the hub. The length of the arms usually can be adjusted. The arms have cleats or other devices that are secured on the outside edge of the tires, thereby providing the extra traction. Examples of these types of devices are shown in Ward, U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,224, Pitts et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,778, Robeson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,635, and Ivan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,659. Though these devices can provide improved traction, they still leave room for improvement.
Each of these devices has arms having adjustable lengths, with the individual arms being adjusted manually. Consequently, it is possible that the arms may not be properly adjusted to tightly grip a tire as needed, which would diminish the usefulness of the devices. It is also possible that the length of each of the arms may be improperly adjusted, or adjusted to lengths that are not a consistent length from one arm to another, which may lead to an unbalanced driving arrangement and require eventual balancing and alignment of the vehicle and tires. Likewise, manually adjusting the arms during inclement weather is not an enjoyable task. It would be beneficial to provide a new traction device for a tire that would be easy to attach and would provide a stable, evenly distributed gripping structure, independent of the drive system of the vehicle.